Have you considered moving this site to a new service provider?
Have you considered moving this site to a new service provider? It's sooo slow. It has been mentioned somewhere on this forum that the service provider is trying to fix this - but it still like molasses. I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago and was promised things would be fixed - it never worked out. They (another organisation) were never able to improve the speed, so I moved my website and now it's blazing fast and I'm glad I moved. There are tons of good providers out there competing for your business. My 2 cents.
Yes, we are concerned about the speed of the website, and all the sites i'm running at the moment.. and we have complained many times to our hosting provider, sometimes with temporary results, mostly without.
We are again in the process of migrating the websites off of this current host. I can only hope MLR demands a refund for this shoddy service after we are long gone..
I've been a bit puzzled by the posts about the current slow server speed. I haven't experienced any slowdown. Part15.us pops right up in 1 - 2 seconds as do the various pages.
I'm on Verizon FIOS here in SE Pennsylvania. The published rate is 5Mb/sec. Maybe the slowness observed by others is only apparent on dialup? Otherwise, it's ok here.
PhilB
Hope this helps. Speed varies by time of day but in general it is slower than it was before the "crash". Often, the latency approaches 20 seconds.
Neil
At home (Bolton, Ontario) DSL and at work (Mississauga, Ontario) with T1 connection - it's slow in both places. Sometimes during the evening it does seem a tad quicker. Other sites at both home and work load at lightning speeds.
slow here. sometimes doe not even load on first try. comcast cable.
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
Dreamhost (our hosting provider currently) offers typical shared hosting - like everyone else.
The server that dishes out the web stuff (the stuff you see) is on one machine.
The database (where all the forum posts, user info, etc live) is on another machine.
What has happened in the past is this:
1) Switch between the web server and db server became saturated causing slow response.
2) Switch died causing no response other than the initial front page.
3) DB became saturated with requests for another website (digg/slashdot effect)
and now:
4) The web server itself is now bogged down.
In previous fundraising, we raised enough to pay for 2 years of owning the www.part15.us domain name and one year of web hosting (which I matched with an additional year). So we paid for 2 years of service (heh) with the idea that I didn't have to figure out where 50.00/month was coming from.
Solutions:
1) We lump it. Deal with slow/no service.
* I really don't like this option. And either do you.
2) Take one of the many offers we've had to host with someone who uses the site.
* While I've given numerous explainations to those who have offered, here is what it really boils down to: This is supposed to be, and for the most part is, an impartial forum to discuss the fun fun side of running a broadcast station under part15. If someone who uses the forums gets to host it, it will became slanted at some point. The other thing is; what if so-and-so becomes ticked off.. there goes the site.
3) I rebuild the original server, new server, whatever, and stick it back in the colo at 50.00/mo.
* We used to have a sponsor, called www.livehardrock.com - thanks to the RIAA and all the BS with internet radio, they are no longer able to bcast via the net without paying ridiculous fees - and I mean crazy - go check out the lhr website and see what I mean.
* Find another sponsor - not so easy, by the way.... that will fork over 50.00 a month.
* Try and collect 50.00/mo from folks as a donation - this is also not as easy as it may seem.
* Collect one year in advance, and run the fundraisers ever year after that. - also not so easy.
Maybe someone can throw a car wash for the server colo 🙂
I'm open to suggestions, here's the criteria:
A) Must be under impartial control. Sorry, thats just how it has to be.
B) 50.00/mo is really good for unmetered Bandwidth in a full colo facility. Let's keep it here.
Incorporate as a 501c and solicit donations. people reach into their pockets far easier when they are able to claim it as a tax deduction.
Just a thought 🙂
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
Here's what looks to be a great site for analyzing a server.
http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/?url=part15.us&treeview=1&column=objectID&order=1&type=0
Click the "Test Now" button a few times to see the total response time. I just got 3.4 seconds.
If there is really a problem with the part15.us performance, it is likely because of the huge number of files that are downloaded on the home page.
My response time is close to the time shown on this site. Actually, I think it is faster because the display comes up before all files are downloaded.
PhilB
Hi all,
I read again mlr's post above and I am willing to 'lump it" on response time to maintain the fun and independence of this site.
I will also point out that there has been some heated discussion affecting some of this site's advertisers and they did not bail out simply because they didn't like what was posted. This is a credit to them and demonstrates mlr's point about independence.
So, for now, do what I do. If it is slow, wait. If it doesn't come up before a timeout, try later. We would all like it to run like a greased goose's meal but it is still up and running and I appreciate that.
I have little to suggest because I know nothing about operating or financing a web site. Maybe some who read mlr's post above can offer help.
Neil
From the front page:
Hosting Nightmares
Hosting has really been a pig since we switched over to dreamhost. It's been pig slow, stability has been iffy at best, and we paid for 2 years in advance which we cannot be refunded for. This is bleak at best.
What can we do? There's hope. I (mlr) have hacently moved back to the Bay Area (Silicon Valley/San Jose) which puts me within driving distance of our old colo. This prevents (or limits) the issues where a machine goes down and we suffer for weeks. The thing here is; I have a new server, I have physical access to the datacenters, but I have sunk all the cash I had (between what was raised and what I tossed in the kitty) tied up in Dreamhost.
Should we run another fundraiser? Let's see what you have to say. The bottom line is 50.00 per month. I'd like to cover at least one year before I go sticking a box in the colo.